Travel

ABSTRACT

A travel system comprising a universal search feature and a local escapes feature is provided. The universal search feature gives an end user everything in a glance and in an organized fashion; the local escapes feature comprises at-a-glance compilation of things to do for the weekend in a specified area.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The invention relates to providing smart travel information. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to two particular search features, auniversal search and a local escape, wherein the user is provided withupdated and dynamic travel information.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Travelers go to and use travel World Wide Web (web) sites forobtaining travel information. More specifically, there are a number ofsites that provide travel information for a particular destination, suchas, the city of Paris. Such sites are more or less simple lookups tostatic content. An end user enters a destination and is presented withresults on web pages.

[0005] Some examples of simple lookup results on a web page, accordingto the prior art is discussed with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2shows a web page from Preview Travel presenting simple lookup resultsfor the city of Paris. FIG. 3 shows a web page from Expedia.com™presenting simple lookup results for the city of Paris.

[0006] What most companies typically do is create ready-made web pages.A good example concerns the concept of destination. Such companiescreate a web page that primarily has static links for a predetermineddestination. Such service is what most of the industry is currentlyproviding. Such companies basically build huge directories of staticlinks.

[0007] Furthermore, the prior art references are concerned only with theconcept of destination, as opposed to providing travel information on avariety of categories. For example, travelers sometimes travel due to aninterest, as opposed to due solely to a particular destination. Theprior art references typically prompt an end user for destinationinformation. Dialog boxes or web pages present end users with inputfields coupled to a label stating something to the effect of “Search foryour destination by typing in . . . .”

[0008] It would be advantageous to provide dynamic travel information,as well as static travel information on a consistent and regular basisso that an end user can take advantage of all travel information.

[0009] It would be advantageous to provide the end user with differentcategories from which to choose in the end user's search for appropriateand useful travel information.

[0010] It would be advantageous to provide the end user with informationthat is categorized, organized, customized, and presented with theobject of showing as much to the end user in as user-friendly way aspossible, preferably on a minimum number of web pages as possible, so asto provide a good experience for the end user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The invention provides two features to a proprietary travelsystem: a universal search feature and a local escapes feature.

[0012] The universal search feature comprises a travel search tool thatgives the end user everything in a glance and in an organized fashion.The universal travel search feature is intended for all internal andexternal partners of the travel system. Current search results comprise,but are not limited to six categories: Destination guides, Cannedkeywords, Local events, Low air fares, Hot deals, and Lodging.

[0013] The local escapes feature comprises an at-a-glance compilation ofthings to do for the weekend in a specified area. The local escapesfeature is planned for fifty predetermined cities. The local escapesfeature is intended for all internal and external partners of the travelsystem. Features within local escapes comprise, but are not limited toFare watch (air), Weekend E-Fares (air), Local events, Hot deals(lodging), Links to other cities, and Other resources, e.g. Maps &Resources.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the universal search systemaccording to the invention;

[0015]FIG. 2 shows a web page presenting search results for the city ofParis according to the prior art;

[0016]FIG. 3 shows a web page presenting search results for the city ofParis according to the prior art;

[0017]FIG. 4 shows an example of the main entry into the universalsearch system according to the invention;

[0018]FIG. 5 is an example of a search results web page for adestination according to the invention;

[0019]FIG. 6 is an example of a search results web page for an interestaccording to the invention;

[0020]FIG. 7 is an example of a more page according to the invention,and

[0021]FIG. 8 is an example of a web page showing content of the localescapes feature according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] The invention provides two features to a proprietary travelsystem: a universal search feature and a local escapes feature.

[0023] The universal search feature comprises a travel search mechanismthat gives the end user everything in a glance and in an organizedfashion. The universal travel search feature is intended to link tocontent of all internal and external partners of the travel system.Current search results comprise, but are not limited to six categories:destination guides, canned keywords, local events, low air fares, hotdeals, and lodging.

[0024] The local escapes feature comprises an at-a-glance compilation ofthings to do for the weekend in a specified area. The local escapesfeature, also referred simply as local escapes, preferably is plannedfor fifty predetermined cities. The local escapes feature is intended tolink to content of all internal and external partners of the travelsystem. Categories within local escapes comprise, but are not limited tofare watch (air), weekend e-fares (air), local events, hot deals(lodging), links to other cities, and other resources, e.g. maps &resources.

[0025] Thus, the claimed invention comprises an intelligent way todisplay travel information from many varied sources, static and/ordynamic, and in a way that is coherent and consistent to the end user.

[0026] Universal Search.

[0027] The preferred embodiment of universal search comprises amulti-database search. Depending upon what an end user specifies, acontext is determined for the end user. The claimed invention embeds anumber of keywords that are then used to present to the end user travelrelated information, such as, for example, specific deals, categories,and other things of that nature. For example, if an end user types inthe name of a city, then the claimed invention jumps to that particularcity, however also pulling in information about low fares from variousairports into that city, hotels, hotel deals that are specific to thatcity, car rentals, and the like. To a certain extent, the claimedinvention anticipates the reason why the end user inputs the name of thecity, i.e. what information the end user desires.

[0028] In another embodiment of the invention a predetermined list ofmajor cities is provided, such as, for example, New York, San Francisco,and Orlando to use as a home city, the city from where the travelinitiates. In another embodiment of the invention, when the end userdoes not provide the home city, the invention guesses a home locationcontext from the set of predetermined cities.

[0029] Another equally preferred embodiment of the invention provides apredetermined list of home airports, whereby an end user can change thehome airport by selecting from a pulldown list. Another embodiment ofthe invention guesses the home airport of the end user by using zip codeinformation in a user profile of the end user.

[0030] It should be appreciated that the preferred embodiment of theinvention comprises a one-to-one mapping of cities and airports.

[0031] The preferred embodiment of the invention presents a lot ofdifferent content in a categorized and organized way. The inventionpresents information that is static and dynamic, thus making theinformation as relevant as possible to the end user by having moreinformation from which to choose. Thus, the end user can look at avariety of different categories, such as, for example, destinationand/or interest.

[0032] An example of static information for the city of Paris is placesto visit, which does not change over time. An example of dynamicinformation for the city of Paris is low fares from San Francisco toParis, an event that is currently happening, a bargain, a package deal,and the like. Therefore, it should be appreciated that it is preferablethat a combination of the static and dynamic information be presentedand in such a way that the information is easy to look at.

[0033] The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a searchmechanism that determines the category for which the end user isrequesting information. As the end user types in the word or phraseabout which information is requested, the search mechanism figures outthe appropriate category. For example, if the end user types in theword, skiing, the search mechanism determines skiing is an interest andnot a destination, and pulls up the appropriate requested information.The claimed invention comprises at least the two categories, destinationand interest.

[0034] Following is a preferred universal search algorithm according tothe invention. An interest database is queried first. If there is amatch, then information about interests is returned. If no match isfound, then the destination database is queried. If a match is found,then information about that destination is returned. If no match isfound, a spell checking tool, described in further detail below, isinvoked.

[0035] It is should be appreciated that universal search also returnsaccurate and categorized information on predetermined keywords, such as,for example, “visa”, “cars”, and “hotels”. Such keywords are added tothe interest database and the interest database returns a match when anend user types in one of these keywords.

[0036] Also, if all these possibilities are exhausted, the search does asimple text search. That is, the end user receives information even ifthe end user entered a simple and/or non-travel specific search termsuch as “book”.

[0037] The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a spellchecking tool. People often mistype and misspell words. The preferredembodiment of the invention comprises additional technology thatsuggests to the end user a word(s) intended by the end user.Essentially, the claimed invention guesses or anticipates what the enduser wants. Also, the claimed invention preferably provides suggestionsof possible spellings of a misspelled word.

[0038] Another example showing the use of the spell checking tool iswhen an end user types in Las Vegas, i.e. with no spaces. The spellcheck tool determines that the end user intended the city, Las Vegas,and pulls up the appropriate information. Such a mistake is very common.The spell checking tool is intelligent enough to come back and actuallyshow the end user results for Las Vegas, but it also preferably givesthe end user suggestions for similarly sounding or similarly spelledwords or phrases.

[0039] One embodiment of the invention assists the end user with enteredcity names that are ambiguous. For example, if an end user types in thename, San Jose, the end user is presented with a question prompting theend user to choose between the possibilities, San Jose, Calif., or SanJose, Costa Rica.

[0040] A preferred embodiment of the invention resolves ambiguity in thefollowing manner. For example, if a user types Paris, in most cases suchend user is referring to Paris, France and not Paris, Tex. The morepopular cities, such as Paris, France are defined by a predetermined setof the top ambiguous cities. Using the predetermined set of topambiguous cities, the universal search mechanism first displays aresults page for the corresponding popular city, and presented on thatresults page is an option for the end user to view a list of the othercities.

[0041] According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, an enduser types in a word, the spell check tool makes intelligent guessesabout what the term is, a number of databases are queried, some of whichstore information that is static and some of which store informationthat is dynamic, and all disparate results are presented to the end userin one page, categorized in such a way that makes sense for the enduser.

[0042]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the components of thepreferred embodiment of the invention. An end user makes a request andthe request is sent to a web server 101. Resident on the web server 101is the spell check tool 102, look up tables 103, and search code 104.

[0043] Referring to FIG. 1, the end user enters in input to the webserver 101 and the input gets passed to the spell checker tool 102,which returns a correct spelling for the end user, if necessary. Thenthe input is passed to lookup tables to help determine matches, such asif the entered city, San Jose, is San Jose, Costa Rica or San Jose,Calif. Control is passed to the search code which then passes acorresponding query to a database 105 that returns the result of thequery back to the web server 101.

[0044] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the database 105 isa single database with different tables coupled to a feed system 106 orfeed retrieval process. The feed system 106 retrieves content preferablyfrom different partners 107, using FTP. The content is then categorized,customized, and stored in the database 105.

[0045] The feed retrieval process preferably runs off of a rules-basedengine 108. In one embodiment, the feeds are custom coded. That is, apredetermined format is supplied to partners 107 to process content intothe predetermined format. XML is preferably used for the predeterminedformat because it is standard and universal. However, an equallypreferred embodiment provides a more generic format for partners 107 touse. An exemplary example of XML parser rules is provided in thesection, An Exemplary Example of XML Parser Rules, below.

[0046] Local Escapes.

[0047] The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises animplementation of the universal search referred to as local escapes. Theidea is that instead of the end user being interested in a destination,the end user selects a home location. Local escapes then presentsdifferent kinds of information relevant to the current selected locationto facilitate searches for the end user. For example, the local escapesfeature might return the following information for a particular homelocation: a flight from the home location to popular destinations and/orevents in the area of the home location.

[0048] The preferred embodiment of the invention provides a list fromwhich the end user selects a home location. The list provided by thelocal escapes feature preferably has at least 50 cities from which theend user chooses a home location.

[0049] Another equally preferred embodiment of the invention provides apredetermined list of home airports, whereby an end user can change thehome airport by selecting from a pulldown list. Another embodiment ofthe invention guesses the home airport of the end user by using zip codeinformation in the profile of the end user.

[0050] The following examples compare the local escapes feature with themore general universal search. In a universal search, an end user entersa destination. The universal search system returns hotels in therelevant area and car rental activity, among other information. Whereas,the local escapes feature does not provide car rental activity, becausethe end user most likely does not need to rent a car for a homelocation. That is, in this example the local escapes feature filters outcar rental activity. The same rationale is used to explain that localescapes preferably filters out hotel information for the home location.

[0051] It should be appreciated that the term, relevant, is subjectiveand that therefore, the local escapes feature and the universal searchsystem may include or exclude categories based on an interpretation ofrelevance that may differ from other interpretations of the term.

[0052] It should be appreciated that events are extremely relevant tothe end user using local escapes. Examples of relevant events are moviesand concerts.

[0053] The preferred embodiment of the invention categorizes by urbanregions information presented by the local escapes feature. Localescapes preferably comprises a multiple hierarchy of geographic regions.For example, one region is California and a region within California isNorthern California. The multiple hierarchy of geographic regions maycontain overlapping subcategories, for example, areas or items that areinterrelated in terms of distance and relevancy.

[0054] As an example, the Lake Tahoe region of Northern California isvery relevant to the San Francisco Bay Area even though it is actually afair distance away, while Mount Shasta, on the other hand is notrelevant.

[0055] An exemplary sample of a tree structure used for categorizingcities and regions is provided in the section, An Exemplary Sample of aTree Structure Used for Categorizing Cities and Regions below.

[0056] The object is to organize events based on locality. As anotherexample, if an end user is looking for events in San Francisco, thelocal escapes feature preferably presents information from other nearbyand relevant cities, such as events in Berkeley, Oakland, and possiblySan Jose. That is, the local escapes feature presents information from asuper set.

[0057] In the World Wide Web (web) environment, it should be appreciatedthat the information is categorized, organized, and presented with theobject of showing as much to the end user in a user-friendly way aspossible on a minimum number of web pages, and preferably on a singleweb page. The system takes into consideration the constraint ofpresenting a lot of information in a relatively small space in such away as to provide a good experience for the end user.

[0058] Some examples of search results on a web page, according to theprior art is discussed with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 shows aweb page from Preview Travel presenting search results for the city ofParis. FIG. 3 shows a web page from Expedia.com™ presenting searchresults for the city of Paris. It is noted that the informationpresented in both prior art references is from static sources.

[0059] In contrast, the universal search system is a complete traveltool that gives end users everything, from both static as well asdynamic sources at a glance in an organized fashion. The local escapesfeature provides an at-a-glance compilation of things to do for theweekend in a specified area.

[0060]FIG. 4 shows an example of the main entry 401 into the universalsearch system according to the invention. Also, an end user can chooseto use the local escapes feature 402.

[0061]FIG. 5 is an example of a search results web page for adestination according to the invention. In addition to a display ofstatic information, information from dynamic sources are presented.Categories presenting dynamic information are Local Events 501 and LowAir Fares 502.

[0062]FIG. 6 is an example of a search results web page for an interestaccording to the invention. That is, FIG. 6 shows an example of a searchresults web page for the interest, skiing. Again, in addition to adisplay of static information, information from dynamic sources arepresented. Some categories presenting dynamic information are Events 601and Hot Deals 602.

[0063] It should be appreciated that the system provides a list in apulldown list box 603 of predefined interest destinations, such as thepopular ski resort city of Vail.

[0064]FIG. 7 is an example of a more page, i.e. a page shown to an enduser after clicking a more hyperlink. It should be appreciated that theexample shows matches for a combination of two categories, namely, for adestination and for an interest. More specifically, FIG. 7 shows 27matches for the search phrase, “skiing vail.”

[0065]FIG. 8 is an example of a web page showing content of the localescapes feature according to the invention. The local area chosen is SanFrancisco. The web page has a pulldown list box 801 comprising apredetermined list of 50 cities. A checkbox 802 is provided for the enduser to indicate that the selected city in the pulldown list box 801 isto be used as the default home location.

[0066] The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a pulldownlist box comprising a predetermined list of home airports fordetermining a home location. In addition, the local escapes featureguesses the home airport of the end user by using the zip code stored inthe profile of the end user.

[0067] A Hot Deals section 803 displays pertinent information in andaround interesting and relevant areas of San Francisco, such as NapaValley, Lake Tahoe, and Carmel/Monterey.

[0068] It should be appreciated that information comprising static aswell as dynamic is displayed preferably in a flexible fashion, as can begleaned from the Fare Watch section 804. For example, weekend fares aredisplayed only on Wednesdays through Fridays so as not to clutter theweb page unnecessarily on the other days for the end user.

[0069] Again, local events indigenous to the home location are displayed805 for the delight of the end user. In this example, eclectic events,such as whale-watching and the Gilroy Garlic Festival are presented.

[0070] An Exemplary Sample of a Tree Structure Used for CategorizingCities and Regions, as Applied to New York State. The state is brokendown into the regions as follows:

[0071] New York:

[0072] New York City, N.Y.;

[0073] Long Island, N.Y.;

[0074] Hudson Valley & The Catskills, N.Y.;

[0075] Central Leatherstocking, N.Y.;

[0076] Lake Placid & The Adirondacks, N.Y.;

[0077] West Central NY & The Finger Lakes;

[0078] Thousand Islands, Seaway, N.Y.; and

[0079] Capitol Area (including Saratoga Springs).

[0080] Central Leatherstocking (a region) is further broken down intothe following:

[0081] Cooperstown, N.Y., United States;

[0082] Oneida, N.Y., United States;

[0083] Hobart, N.Y., United States;

[0084] Herkimer, N.Y., United States; and

[0085] Bainbridge, N.Y., United States.

[0086] An Exemplary Example of XML Parser Rules

[0087] Two types of exemplary rules are provided for the XML parser:

[0088] 1) dtd rule (See example festivals.dtd in Table A). This rule isused by all XML parsers, is provided by the feed provider, and is atechnical requirement for all XML parsers; and

[0089] 2) mapping rules (See example fes_events_map.xml also in TableA), created such that the XML parser takes the raw data and outputs thedata in a format that can be stored into the database and used by thesearch engine. TABLE A <ENTITY deg “i”> <!ELEMENT festivals.data(CALENDAREVENT)> <ELEMENT CALENDAREVENT (EVENT+)> <!ELEMENT EVENT(EVENTNAME, STARTDATE, ENDDATE, DURATION?, INFOPHONE, EMAIL*, INFOFAX,URL*, DESCRIPTION, PERFORMERS*, CATEGORY+, SUBCATEGORY?, SUBJECT?,VENUE, VENUECITY, VENUESTATE, EVENTZIP?, EVENTCOUNTRY?, ORGANIZATION*)><!ATTLIST EVENT EVENTID ID #REQUIRED> <!ELEMENT EVENTNAME (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST EVENTNAME length CDATA #FIXED “70”> <!ELEMENT STARTDATE(#PCDATA)> <!ATTLIST STARTDATE dateFormat NMTOKEN #FIXED “MDY”><!ELEMENT ENDDATE (#PCDATA)> <!ATTLIST ENDDATE dateFormat NMTOKEN #FIXED“MDY”> <!ELEMENT DURATION (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT INFOPHONE (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT EMAIL (#PCDATA)> <!ATTLIST EMAIL length CDATA #FIXED “50”><!ELEMENT INFOFAX (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT URL (#PCDATA)> <!ATTLIST URLprotocol NMTOKEN #FIXED “HTTP”> <!ELEMENT DESCRIPTION (#PCDATA)><!ATTLIST DESCRIPTION length CDATA #FIXED “755”> <!ELEMENT PERFORMERS(#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT CATEGORY (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT SUBCATEGORY(#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT SUBJECT (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT VENUE (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT VENUECITY (#PCDATA)> <!ATTLIST VENUECITY length CDATA #FIXED“50”> <!ELEMENT VENUESTATE (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT EVENTZIP (#PCDATA)><!ELEMENT EVENTCOUNTRY (#PCDATA)> <!ELEMENT ORGANIZATION (#PCDATA)><!--Feed Mapping for Festival.com Events --> <FEEDMAPPERINPUTFORMAT=“xml” RECORD_DELIMlTER=“}“FIELDDELIMITER=”|”PARTNER=”Festival.com” CATEGORY =“Events”> <!--HEAD LINE--> <!-- Thiscontains the Head line --> <RULE> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“HEADLINE”/> <INPUTCOLUMNNO=“2” CDATA=“Yes”/> </RULE> <!--Start Date--> <RULE> <INPUTCOLUMNNO=“3”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“START_DATE”/> </RULE> <!--End Date--><RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“5”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“END_DATE”/> </RULE><!--Preparing the URL--> <RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“9”/> <OUTPUTTAGNAME=“URL”/> </RULE> <!--Preparing the Description --> <RULE><!--Description--> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“10”/> <OUTPUTTAGNAME=“DESCRIPTION”/> </RULE> <!--PHONE--> <RULE> <INPUTCOLUMNNO=“6”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“PHONE”/> </RULE> <!--EMAIL--> <RULE><INPUT COLUMNNO=“7”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“EMAIL”/> </RULE> <!--FAX--><RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“8”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“FAX”/> </RULE><!--PERFORMERS--> <RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“11”/> <OUTPUTTAGNAME=“PERFORMERS”/> </RULE> <!--CATEGORY--> <RULE> <INPUTCOLUMNNO=“12”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“CATEGORY”/> </RULE> <!--SUBCATEGORY--><RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“13”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“SUBCATEGORY”/> </RULE><!--SUBJECT--> <RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“14”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“SUBJECT”/></RULE> <!--ADDRESS--> <RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“15”/> <OUTPUTTAGNAME=“ADDRESS”/> <!RULE> <!--DEST_CITY--> <RULE> <INPUTCOLUMNNO=“16”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“DEST_CITY”/> </RULE> <!--PERFORMERS--><RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“11”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“PERFORMERS”/> </RULE><--DEST_STATE--> <RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“17”/> <OUTPUTTAGNAME=“DEST_STATE”/> </RULE> <!--DEST_ZIP--> <RULE> <INPUTCOLUMNNO=“18”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“DEST_ZIP”/> </RULE> <--DEST_COUNTRY--><RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“19”/> <OUTPUT TAGNAME=“DEST_COUNTRY”/> </RULE><!--ORGANIZATION--> <RULE> <INPUT COLUMNNO=“20”/> <OUTPUTTAGNAME=“ORGANIZATION”/> </RULE> </FEEDMAPPER>

[0090] Although the invention has been described in detail withreference to particular preferred embodiments, persons possessingordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains willappreciate that various modifications and enhancements may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the claims that follow.

1. A system for providing travel information to an end user in anintelligent way using a search result, said system comprising: a serverfor receiving a request for travel information and for processing saidrequest into a query; a database for storing relevant travel informationfrom a plurality of internal and external partners, for receiving andprocessing said query using said stored travel information, andreturning said search result to said server, wherein said search resultcomprises said travel information in a concise and consistent fashion,thereby providing ease of use for an end user.
 2. The system of claim 1,further comprising: a feed retrieval system for linking to saidplurality of internal and external partners to obtain said relevanttravel information, and for categorizing, organizing, customizing, andotherwise preparing said relevant travel information for efficientstorage by said database for easy retrieval.
 3. The system of claim 2,said feed retrieval system further comprising: a rules-based engine forsaid obtaining said relevant travel information from said internal andexternal partners.
 4. The system of claim 2, said feed retrieval systemfurther comprising: custom coded forms in a predetermined formatsupplied to said partners for facilitating said obtaining travelinformation.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein said custom coded formsare in XML format.
 6. The system of claim 1, said server furthercomprising: a spell check tool for providing a spell check service to anend user for assisting an end user in providing correct spelling of anintended word.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein said spell check toolfurther comprising, but not limited to: means for suggesting alternatespellings of said word; means for providing similarly spelled words orrelevant phrases; and means for settling ambiguity among said word withother words or phrases having similar parts of said word.
 8. The systemof claim 1, further comprising: lookup tables for determining matches tofacilitate processing said request into said query.
 9. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising: a search mechanism for determining acontext of said request, thereby anticipating an end user's intention.10. The system of claim 9, said search mechanism further comprising: avariety of context determining categories; and means for determiningsaid a context determining category.
 11. The system of claim 10, whereinsaid variety of context determining categories comprise, but are notlimited to: destination and interest.
 12. The system of claim 1, saidsearch result comprising, but not limited to, the following travelcategories: destination guides; canned keywords; local events; low airfares; hot deals; and lodging.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein saidtravel information comprises static and/or dynamic information.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein said dynamic information comprises, but isnot limited to: local events; low air fares; hot deal; fare watch; andthe like.
 15. The system of claim 1, wherein said server is a web serverand said travel information is presented in one web page.
 16. The systemof claim 15, wherein said one web page comprises a more link forfacilitating linking to more detailed information as an option.
 17. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein said more detailed information comprisesinformation reflecting and associated with one or more than one of saidcontext determining categories.
 18. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising a local escapes feature, wherein said local escapes featureuses a home location to provide particular travel information.
 19. Thesystem of claim 18, further comprising: means for determining said homelocation when not provided by an end user.
 20. The system of claim 18,wherein said home location is selected from a list of predetermined homelocations.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein said list ofpredetermined home locations comprises, but is not limited to fiftypredetermined cities or home airports.
 22. The system of claim 18,wherein said provided travel information comprises, but is not limitedto local escapes categories: fare watch, weekend e-fares, local events,hot deals, links to other cities, maps, other resources, and the like.23. The system of claim 18, further comprising: means for filtering outtravel information not relevant to said home location.
 24. The system ofclaim 18, further comprising: a multi-hierarchical schema for organizinggeographical regions to facilitate determining relevant travelinformation, and wherein content in said regions overlap.
 25. The systemof claim 24, wherein geographical regions comprise urban regions. 26.The system of claim 25, wherein said urban regions comprise content fromother nearby and relevant cities associated with said home location. 27.A method for providing travel information to an end user in anintelligent way using a search result, said method comprising: providinga server for receiving a request for travel information and forprocessing said request into a query; providing a database for storingrelevant travel information from a plurality of internal and externalpartners, for receiving and processing said query using said storedtravel information, and returning said search result to said server,wherein said search result comprises said travel information in aconcise and consistent fashion, thereby providing ease of use for an enduser.
 28. The method of claim 27, further comprising: providing a feedretrieval system for linking to said plurality of internal and externalpartners to obtain said relevant travel information, and forcategorizing, organizing, customizing, and otherwise preparing saidrelevant travel information for efficient storage by said database foreasy retrieval.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein said feed retrievalsystem further comprises: a rules-based engine for said obtaining saidrelevant travel information from said internal and external partners.30. The method of claim 28, said feed retrieval system furthercomprising: custom coded forms in a predetermined format supplied tosaid partners for facilitating said obtaining travel information. 31.The method of claim 30, wherein said custom coded forms are in XMLformat.
 32. The method of claim 27, wherein said server furthercomprises: a spell check tool for providing a spell check service to anend user for assisting an end user in providing correct spelling of anintended word.
 33. The method of claim 32, said spell check tool furthercomprising, but not limited to: suggesting alternate spellings of saidword; providing similarly spelled words or relevant phrases; andsettling ambiguity among said word with other words or phrases havingsimilar parts of said word.
 34. The method of claim 27, furthercomprising: providing lookup tables for determining matches tofacilitate processing said request into said query.
 35. The method ofclaim 27, further comprising: providing a search mechanism fordetermining a context of said request, thereby anticipating an enduser's intention.
 36. The method of claim 35, wherein said searchmechanism further comprises: a variety of context determiningcategories; and means for determining said a context determiningcategory.
 37. The method of claim 36, wherein said variety of contextdetermining categories comprise, but are not limited to: destination andinterest.
 38. The method of claim 27, wherein said search resultcomprises, but is not limited to, the following travel categories:destination guides; canned keywords; local events; low air fares; hotdeals; and lodging.
 39. The method of claim 27, wherein said travelinformation comprises static and/or dynamic information.
 40. The methodof claim 39, wherein said dynamic information comprises, but is notlimited to: local events; low air fares; hot deal; fare watch; and thelike.
 41. The method of claim 27, wherein said server is a web serverand said travel information is presented in one web page.
 42. The methodof claim 41, wherein said one web page comprises a more link forfacilitating linking to more detailed information as an option.
 43. Themethod of claim 42, wherein said more detailed information comprisesinformation reflecting and associated with one or more than one of saidcontext determining categories.
 44. The method of claim 27, furthercomprising: providing a local escapes feature, wherein said localescapes feature uses a home location to provide particular travelinformation.
 45. The method of claim 44, further comprising: determiningsaid home location when not provided by an end user.
 46. The method ofclaim 44, wherein said home location is selected from a list ofpredetermined home locations.
 47. The method of claim 46, wherein saidlist of predetermined home locations comprises fifty predeterminedcities or home airports.
 48. The method of claim 44, wherein saidprovided travel information comprises, but is not limited to localescapes categories: fare watch, weekend e-fares, local events, hotdeals, links to other cities, maps, other resources, and the like. 49.The method of claim 44, further comprising: filtering out travelinformation not relevant to said home location.
 50. The method of claim44, further comprising: providing a multi-hierarchical schema fororganizing geographical regions to facilitate determining relevanttravel information, and wherein content in said regions overlap.
 51. Themethod of claim 50, wherein geographical regions comprise urban regions.52. The method of claim 51, wherein said urban regions comprise contentfrom other nearby and relevant cities associated with said homelocation.
 53. A universal search algorithm for providing search resultsusing a plurality of databases, comprising: querying an first database;if a match is established, then corresponding information from saidfirst database is returned; if a match is not established, then queryinga second database; if a match is established, then correspondinginformation from said second database is returned; if no match isestablished, then a spell check tool is invoked, and the process ofquerying the first and second database is repeated; and if all abovequerying attempts are exhausted, a simple text search is performed. 54.The universal search algorithm of claim 53, wherein said first databaseis an interest database, and wherein said second database is adestination database.
 55. The universal search algorithm of claim 53,further comprising: returning accurate and categorized information onselected predetermined keywords.
 56. The universal search algorithm ofclaim 55, wherein said keywords comprise, but are not limited to visa,cars, hotels, and the like.